When Should You Wear Disposable Shoe Covers?

Shoe covers come in many shapes and sizes for a variety of applications. Choosing the proper shoe cover depends on the work you will be doing and the work place environment. Do you need shoe covers to be anti-skid or non-slip? Should your shoe covers be made to fit over regular shoes or boots as well? What are the work regulations regarding protective shoe covers? All of these questions will need to be addressed in order to ascertain which protective shoe covers you will need and when you will need to wear them.

There are many industries that use disposable shoe covers. Hospitals are perhaps one of the most well known workplaces where employees are required to wear protective shoe covers. However, industrial settings such as paint shops, also require employees to wear protective shoe covers. The idea is to protect not only your shoes from damage, but to protect the workplace from debris that you can track in with your shoes. When you walk from where you parked you car to the workplace, you walk across dirt and grime which can stick to your shoes and be carried inside. Sensitive machines can be damaged by excess debris, so protective shoe coverings are worn to minimize that risk.

Disposable shoe covers should also be changed out as employees move from one room to another. In the gardening profession, for example, employees can avoid cross contamination of plant material and bacteria by changing shoe coverings as they move from one job to another. By simply changing disposable shoe covers, time is saved since the employee does not have to wash his shoes, and also the chance of contamination is dramatically decreased, since any bacteria that may have been present in the plant material would have stayed on the shoe cover, not on the employees shoes.

Workers in hospitals and shops where floors are of a slippery material will need to wear shoe covers with a non-slip sole. Depending on the material of the shoe cover, they can be slippery. Shoe covers need to be non slip but should also be of a proper size. Shoe covers come in small, medium and large and employees should pick the shoe covers that most closely match their shoe size. Wearing shoe covers that are too large will increase the risk of accidents. On the other hand, shoe covers that are too small may not completely cover the shoe. It is important to ensure that shoe covers are of a proper fit in order to work correctly.

Check the regulations at your workplace in order to find out the specific rules regarding shoe covers. OSHA often has specific regulations for shoe covers based on the work environment, and employees should be familiar with these standards at all times. If your work requires shoe covers, they should be provided for you by the company. However, you can purchase your own online if your work does not require them but you feel they would bring you benefit. Wear shoe covers to protect your workplace, your shoes, and to keep you safe while you work.